Angels and Visions

First Look for December 19, 2017

Today I take a first look at JLA #6 and Vision #1 and have a fun time reading about Angels and Visions. While the JLA issue by Grant Morrison involves Earth shattering events and maybe even dogs and cats living together, the Vision by Tom King is much more sedate. The Vision family basically moves to the D.C. suburbs to build their lives apart from the Avengers. Sure Vision is still a member but he’s more involved with the government than fighting bad guys right now, and yes, I said family because he’s got a wife and kids now. Back to the Justice League where we see some monumental fights between Angels and the Chariot of the gods arrives over the Golden Gate Bridge. So we end up with some small scale family matters and a larger than life team fight to start the day – pretty fun.

JLA #6

Fire in the Sky by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter, Published 1997 by DC Comics.
This issue sees the heavens open and Angels and Demons pour out onto the Earth and the Justice League is smack dab in the middle of the whole thing. We start out with one supernatural being in the hospital and another streaking across the sky as a fireball that crashes into San Francisco Harbor. J’onn sends out an alarm and the JLA springs into action. Green Lantern heads directly there but the Flash who’s up on the Watchtower tries to use the teleporter but gets stuck. As J’onn helps the being, we see Wonder Woman and Aquaman in Tokyo finishing up a fight and beginning to head to the new event. Now that most of the League is together we start to learn about their foes. Apparently these guys are Angels and they’re fighting each other for some reason and we soon learn the ultimate reason is Lord Neron who is thriving on the chaos. And there certainly is a bunch of that – the moon is falling towards Earth, a giant ship is materializing from a ‘higher order of reality’, and while Angels fight one another on Earth, Superman is still trying to get Flash outta the teleporter. It’s a real mess but a fun read.

Vision #1

Visions of the Future by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Published 2015 by Marvel Comics.
I know a little about the Vision but most of it centers on his relationships with the Avengers. The creation of the synthezoid in 1968 by Ultron and the movies are the main sources of my knowledge but I’ve always liked the character. With his own series, Vision creates a family for himself and sets out to be a ‘normal’ person living in the Washington D.C. suburbs. His wife, Virginia and their twins, Viv (the daughter) and Vin (the son) just moved into a new house while Vision has taken a position as the Avengers’ liaison to the White House. It all seems pretty normal with neighbors coming by to welcome the family to the neighborhood and the kids heading out to high school, but you just know something has to happen…And it does. As things are peaceful and calm, with the family discussing homework around the dinner table, Grim Reaper launches a brutal attack on the synthezoids with dire consequences. What will happen with Viv and what did Virginia do to the invader? This is a great set up for a story arc and I’m looking forward to following along for the ride.